


Tsukimatou

by apoptoses



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, hannibal is needy for affection, will doesn't exactly mind, with a side of surprsingly emotional conversation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 02:52:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8311078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apoptoses/pseuds/apoptoses
Summary: "You remind me of a cat I used to have," Will said as he ran his fingers through Hannibal's hair.Will had found her out on the docks. She had been a small, skinny thing, her black fur matted from being out on her own. His dad had named her Shadow, since she had a habit of staying under their feet as if she couldn't bear for her masters to be out of her sight.Hannibal had become just like her since they’d both healed up and got back on their feet. Will found he still couldn't lie on the sofa or crawl into bed without being joined soon after.





	

"You remind me of a cat I used to have," Will said as he ran his fingers through Hannibal's hair. He watched as his hair - once an ashen brown, now silver from his time in the BSHCI- parted into bright, shimmering strands and then came back together once Will's fingers reached the base of his skull; smoothed flat by the heel of his palm.

Hannibal tilted his chin up so he could meet Will's eyes. "I assumed you had always been a dog person."

"Yeah, but we had a cat when I was a kid out in Biloxi," Will explained. "She kind of adopted us, really."

Will had found her out on the docks. She had been a small, skinny thing, her black fur matted from being out on her own. His dad had named her Shadow, since she had a habit of staying under their feet as if she couldn't bear for her masters to be out of her sight. 

Once Will had tripped over her and gone through a glass end table. He'd needed sixteen stitches, but they hadn't kicked Shadow out, even after the hospital bill came in.

Hannibal had become just like her since they’d both healed up and got back on their feet. Worse, maybe, if Will took into consideration the time Hannibal had absently followed him into the bathroom. Will had stared at him until he'd realized why Will had gone into the bathroom in the first place, and then hurried out with as much embarrassment as someone like Hannibal could muster.

He'd eased up a bit after that, but Will found he still couldn't lie on the sofa or crawl into bed without being joined soon after.

"That doesn't exactly explain why you've compared me to such an animal," Hannibal prompted, pulling him out of his memories.

Will pushed Hannibal's bangs back away from his face. "Because she never left me alone. She'd sit on the edge of the bath tub and cry until I'd pet her. Didn't even mind the water, she just wanted the attention all the same."

Hannibal stiffened and scanned Will’s face with his eyes, searching out exactly what he’d meant by the metaphor. From the expression on his face, Will had the creeping feeling something had come out all wrong. Worry twisted in his stomach.

"Well, should I ever sit and weep for your attention, you have full permission to shoot me, as it would certainly be a sign that I've gone mad," Hannibal said, and shifted as if to get out of bed. "Now, if my presence bothers you that much-"

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. Lay down." Will tugged him firmly back into place. "I just- I didn't take you for being such a cuddler, I guess. Are you worried I'm going to leave or something?"

Hannibal tucked his face into the curve of Will's throat. He was silent for a long moment, fingers flexing against Will's shoulder as he weighed his options for how to respond. 

Will waited patiently and nosed at the top of his head. He smelled like rosemary, like the fire he'd grilled the fish Will had caught for dinner over. Like home.

"Perhaps that is part of it," Hannibal finally said.

"And the other part?"

"I'm sure you remember your time in the BSHCI. There is little warmth or human courtesy there," Hannibal said. "No handshakes for greetings, only hands gripping you by the upper arm as you're led like cattle down the halls."

Will nodded. He remembered it all too well; being pushed into Chilton's chair, injected with all manners of things as though he were a doll. Someone's toy to force into awkward positions and then leave broken in the corner.

"It was a lonely place," Will said.

"Yes, in a way it was," Hannibal said, and added softly, "and there were times when I missed you terribly," 

Suddenly Hannibal felt smaller in his arms, like a skin-hungry child. Will felt a pang of guilt for teasing him about it, and squeezed him tighter, as if that could make up for the time they'd lost together.

Hannibal squeezed back, some of the tension easing from him. "So you'll have to forgive me if I overstep my boundaries on occasion. Sharing a home with someone who is neither guard nor captor is something of a new experience for me."

Will smiled into his hair. “We’ve never really had any boundaries anyway, have we?"

Hannibal stretched in that feline way of his, back arching and toes pointing, before pulling Will impossibly closer. If they pressed against each other any further their bodies would have to meld together. Will didn't entirely mind the thought.

"No. I suppose we have not."


End file.
